A new quick and comprehensive resource for those interested in the history of inventors and intellectual property or who are personally involved in the creation of patents is. From Samuel F.B. Morse and the telegraph system to James J. Wynne and LASIK Eye surgery, this online tool compares over 450 of the world’s most revolutionary inventors, both living and dead, and their intellectual property. INVENTORS: FIND THE DATA

While other brands trip over themselves to generate the impression they are new-age, planet saving, social-service adjuncts, Apple were busy building a formidable company, creating thousands of jobs and changing the lives of millions of people with kick-ass consumer products. Oh, and telling the U.S. government-backed registration of environmentally friendly electronics to naff off. Apple Shun Environmental Registration – MOTELLA

You want to a fiscal cliff? Then look what happens when cans are kicked down the road. The Real Fiscal Cliff – Peter Schiff, BASTIAT INSTITUTE

And despite the public’s and politicians’ Alice-in-Wonderland confusion about trade, even unilateral free trade is good. So why do trade negotiations never even acknowledge that? Mercantilist Myths Persist – CAFE HAYEK

Message to Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke: A fall in interest rates cannot grow the economy. All that it can produce is a misallocation of real savings. So what’s with Operation Twist Again? Yet Another "Operation Twist"? – Frank Shostak, MISES DAILY

If GDP measures production, then why do GDP figures and figures for industrial production diverge so sharply? The answer is that GDP measures money flow, not production—so when debt is fuelling a consumption-driven bubble, numb nuts who think GDP does measure growth are deluded into thinking things are growing. When instead they’re heading for disaster (as shown in this graph, blue showing US GDP, red showing US Industrial Production): A question for a bonus point: If the real problem is increasing debt without increasing production, them how does more “quantitative easing” tackle that—isn’t deleveraging the answer, not the problem the central banks are trying to avert? The Deleveraging Trap – John Aziz, ZERO HEDGE

Many parents say they want a successful kid, but what exactly does a successful kid mean? A Successful Kid – Daniel Wahl, NEARBY PEN

What is a central purpose in life and do you need one? In this post, John Drake takes another look at how a central purpose can guide and enhance your life. Central Purpose in Life - Another Look - TRY REASON

The last three minutes of Wagner’s opera Die Walkure (The Valkyrie), with the full five hours coming soon to a New Zealand city near you! Great Opera Videos explains the scene: “Just as Snow White and Sleeping Beauty are protected by briar thickets to daunt prospective suitors, Brunnhilde will have a ring of fire, which Wotan lights in this Met performance of the Magic Fire Music from Wagner's Die Walkure.

There is no night in July that I couldn't have jiggled to make it to Valkyrie. Except the night that they chose. Am supposed to be having dinner with the Vice Chancellor. Probably a remarkably bad idea to pull out of that invite. Still, though. Valkyrie.